The competition has always been fierce, but now a local TV station is boasting about shaving seconds off its automated snow day school closing reports.

Channel 31 proclaims “FOX31 DENVER PROVIDES SNOW CLOSURE INFORMATION FASTER THAN ANY OTHER COLORADO MEDIA OUTLET.” Using Nexus SchoolClosings, one of the handful of automated systems available to news outlets, KDVR and its website can report delays and closings first, the station claims.

The press release: “When a school administrator remotely enters a closure into our system, there is no delay before it is conveyed to our audience. New information appears on the air, on our web site and on our mobile app literally within 15 seconds,” says VP of Technology David Harpe. “For our FOX31 Denver on-air viewers, we don’t make them wait through a long, hours-old closings list to see the most recent changes. Our exclusive ‘Just In’ feature flashes a real time alert on screen every time a new delay or closing comes in. New closings are displayed first, followed by a comprehensive list of all closings for the area. With these technologies, FOX31 Denver viewers and KDVR.com visitors have the most up-to-date information throughout the day.”

Longtime ratings and especially snow day kingpin 9News dusted off the claims of its rival like so much powder on the windshield. KUSA General Manager Mark Cornetta said, “We have the technology to do the exact same thing but chose not to.” Because 9News prefers to alphabetize the list of school closings and add to the list as it scrolls around, “small schools could interrupt all morning. We’ve chosen not to use that feature.”

Viewers are now free to clock the announcements down to the millisecond. Or do what most rational people do these days: reach for the smartphone or iPad by the bed and see what your kid’s school is doing.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.